The Persecuted and the Terrorists: Dystopia in Israel and Palestine

Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing. The idea that no matter who you are, wherever you are, you can say whatever you like. Or at least that's how it's supposed to work. We might have limitations on 'hate speech' in the UK for instance, but that part is easy to understand. It's based on the idea of fairness, that no one should be marginalised based on the prejudices held by another person.

Connected to this idea is something I believe, said by Arundhati Roy: “There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless'. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.” One final thing adds up to the subject of this post: my love of dystopian novels. I recently finished reading 'Fahrenheit 451', where books are burnt to prevent people from thinking. One of my all time favourite books is 'Nineteen Eighty-Four', Orwell's classic where every aspect of life, be it media or conversation, is controlled and observed by IngSoc, the sinister party ruling Oceania and Airstrip One.

Why am I mentioning all of these things? It is because of the place I am sitting, the ever divisive Jerusalem. This is a place which the world media looks at, and yet equal levels of free speech are not generally given worldwide to the opposing inhabitants of this land. Despite horror stories of the suffering of Gaza which do reach us, the idea still persists that the Israelis are a persecuted people who have to fight every day against the terrorists who swarm against them. This idea is completely outdated, and should be scrapped. Israel's military is ranked as the eleventh strongest in the world. So why do we still have this view?

The media is very important in the way the world discovers and understands itself. Ray Bradbury understood this perfectly. George Orwell knew it just as well. Both write about how removal of certain stories, or even subtle changes to existing ones can keep the public feeding out of the palms of the producers, believing every word and being content with the truth. Let me give you some examples of the twists in the truth we find here.

Recently, there was a tragic incident here in the Holy Land. A Palestinian, one of the many ticking time bombs in this fractured land (see previous post) attacked two IDF soldiers with a knife. He injured one severely, and wounded the other, before being shot dead himself. The BBC news reported it in this article. Note the title of the piece: 'Palestinian killed after stabbing two Israeli soldiers'. We can debate the ins and outs as to whether they were on his land, and how far he was pushed, forever. It doesn't change the fact that two men were injured and one died in a horrible event. But the BBC article has simple title, which sums up the events pretty well. However, I first saw this article when my sister sent me a link to it on Facebook Chat. The title appeared differently there. Instead it simply read 'Palestinian stabs two Israelis in West Bank.' Imagine that you skimmed past that title. It says only half the story, and doesn't say that those attacked were military, one of the most incendiary sights for people in the West Bank. I am not excusing a man of violence, but it is important to understand that he died and both soldiers lived. We need balance to look at this story. 

The BBC have also had other articles which are not balanced in their portrayal. For example, look at this article from June 2013. Look at the picture. Here you see a Palestinian man shouting into the face of a calm looking IDF soldier. The Palestinian looks angry, like he is about to do something terrible. This man's name is Adeeb, and this photo was taken during one of the weekly protests at Bil'in, a small village which lost large amounts of land to the Mod'in Illit settlement, the largest illegal construction on the West Bank. Every week the villagers, bolstered by international, and even Israeli support, come out to demonstrate against the wall and the settlement, only to be met with hails of rubber-coated bullets and tear gas. It is ritual by now. These protests, and life in the village are captured spectacularly in the Oscar nominated 5 Broken Cameras (also available on Netflix). I would encourage everyone to watch the full documentary, but for now just watch from 13:00 to 14:30. You'll get an impression of the protests, and of Adeeb. He is angry, but he has reason. He talks loudly, because there are cameras and he wants everyone to hear. But he is not a violent man, as the single picture on the BBC article would imply.

So the media, even among respected sources like the BBC, does not show the balance it should about the difficulties in this land. Even more interestingly, most Israelis have no idea of the balance. One of the directors of '5 Broken Cameras', Guy Davidi, an Israeli himself, has made a point of trying to show young people his film. Watching their reactions, it is encouraging to see young Israelis reacting with horror at what they see. However, it is instantly obvious that they are not told the realities of the situation with Palestine. As said in my previous article, they are raised to see Palestinians as dangerous terrorists. Once again, media fails to show the full story, but in Israel it is more like intentional propaganda to keep the government's ideals among the people. And it is working. Besides, there is little they can do. The national service programme requires all young Israelis to serve in the military, unless they are excused on religious or psychological grounds. Those who object serve prison sentences instead.

I also talked about 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' above. This most restrictive of the dystopian settings shows a world where every moment is watched, and people can be arrested at any time. It is considered normal for people to disappear in the night. Well, people disappear in the night here in Palestine too, but more frequently it is their homes, demolished because they lack the proper permits. This would sound marginally sensible, until you learn how hard it is for a Palestinian to get a permit, with both economic and, frankly, racist barriers in their way. However, many internationally illegal settlements have been approved on the West Bank by Netanyahu's government for Zionist settlers.

 And what about the all reaching power of the police and military? Well, you see soldiers all over the Palestinian parts of Jerusalem, just young men and women with M4 Carbines, many of whom are there as part of the national service practised in Israel. These kids follow their orders, and have been raised in the system where Palestinians are these dangerous people to be feared and hated. It is no wonder that older Palestinians, who have lived in this land their whole life, are outraged when a twenty year old stops them, as if they have full authority in this land. The picture below was taken right outside my place of work. This man was stopped, his bag searched and his ID checked on nothing more than a whim. There was nothing suspicious about him. He simply looked like a man on his way to work. The policy here is as discriminative as 'Stop and Frisk' was in New York, and reveals just as few criminals. Instead it just highlights the impunity with which the Israeli authorities act, as well as the fact that all Palestinians are liable to be stopped at any moment.

Finally, there is the ever watchful eye of Big Brother in 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'. While there are not telescreens fitted into every wall, there are some things which border on it. In the above image, you can see a balloon in the middle right of the picture. We were told by a Palestinian friend that this is a camera, used by the Israelis to monitor buildings in the Old City, as well as movements of people. I myself was sceptical, until it moved, drifting down over the streets, against the wind. While I couldn't make out a camera, it is clearly motorised for some purpose, and the camera makes a horrifying amount of sense, suggesting that the Old City is under constant observation.

I am living in a state which constantly talks of persecution and terrorism, and yet the Palestinians are kept behind a wall, their homes are demolished and their movements are watched, either by cameras or the eyes of the IDF, backed up by the muzzles of their rifles. Even though I try to remain objective, you cannot help but see that the persecution has fallen from the shoulders of the Jewish peoples of Israeli, and has landed firmly on Palestine, coming down with combat boots and huge slabs of concrete. I wish I had a tenth of the genius of Bradbury or Orwell to write some powerful novel of this twisted system to explain the situation, but as it stands, my simple words here will have to suffice.

As I said above, quoting Arundhati Roy: “There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless'. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard.” I am writing this in an attempt to be balanced, but also to raise my voice along with those who are muffled behind a wall, the clamour of the previously persecuted still ringing in the ears of the world, excusing them of their actions. It is time we looked beyond simple headlines and pictures and probed deeper, to learn the truth of the situation. 

All I can do is tell you the truth I see with my own eyes. It is a hard truth, but it is also a truth which demands justice. The Israelis gained a homeland following their persecution. It is time for the persecution of Palestine to stop, before they lose theirs.